Kchi Psahakw: American Wild Mint

Kchi psahakw (Western Abenaki) – great/big smell(ing) plant, from “kchi” = great/big, plus “psah-” = to smell, plus “-akw” = a plant

American wild mint (Mentha canadensis)

American wild mint is the only native Mentha of the half-dozen species found in New England. This one has a very strong mint smell and enjoys wet, rich soil.  People seek it as medicine for stomach upset, insomnia, and to relieve anxiety – similar to contemporary uses for peppermint.

Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust at Wantastegok

“The Elnu Abenaki Tribe have partnered with Mount Grace since the early planning of the Gunnery Sergeant Jeff Ames Wheelchair Accessible Trail, which now guides visitors through a series of interpretive signs emphasizing the Abenaki’s continued connection to the lands that make up Squakheag/Northfield.

Elnu representatives worked with Mount Grace, and with the Wampanoag Aquinnah and Narragansett Nations, to describe the cultural importance of the Alderbrook Meadows site and helped design the educational signs for the trail.

This August, Mount Grace was invited to Vermont by the Elnu to witness the reclamation of Wantastegok–”at the river where something is lost”–the original name of the confluence of the West River with the Connecticut in Brattleboro.”

Read the full article in the 9/8/20 Mount Grace newsletter.

 

Apenak – Groundnut

Apenak or penak – also skibô (Western Abenaki) – “[edible] root” from “pen-” = downward

Groundnut (Apios americana)

Wlipogwatol wajapkol ta adbakwasisal. Ta wlinôgwatol pskwasawônal!

Tasty roots and little beans. And beautiful flowers!

 

Pakwaaskw – Cattail

Pakwaaskw (Western Abenaki) – “arrow plant”

Cattail (Typha latifolia)

N’wlitobnal pakwal ta n’mijibnal wajapkol.

The stems used to make blunt arrow shafts and the roots eaten as a starch.

Reclaiming the Abenaki Placename Wantastegok at Retreat Farm

The Brattleboro Words Project commissioned this appealing, succinct video by filmmaker Donna Blackney, as part of its NEH-funded documentation of the intersection of people, places ,and words in this region. The event was well-attended and well-received, and signals the beginning of an inclusive and mindful collaboration between the Elnu Abenaki, other members of the Native community, and Retreat Farm, in Wantastegok/Brattleboro.

This video will be shared several times through programming at Brattleboro Community Television (listing here).

Layers of Land, Layers of Experience

Visitors to the Retreat Meadows on Route 30 across from the Retreat Farm have a new opportunity to experience the confluence of the West and Connecticut rivers from a perspective that celebrates and honors the region as the homeland of the Abenaki people.

After a brief ceremony on Aug. 13, leaders of the Elnu Abenaki and the Retreat Farm joined Native Americans and others in the community in unveiling an interpretive sign for Wantastegok, the original Abenaki word for the area.

“It refers to the confluence of the West and the Connecticut rivers, a place where things come together, a place where things are lost, a place where things are found,” said Rich Holschuh, a spokesperson for the Elnu Abenaki and author of the text on the sign at the edge of the Retreat Meadows.

Read the full report from Olga Peters in The Commons (issue #576, 08.26.20), photography courtesy of Josh Steele.

 

Kchipenak – Canada Lily

Kchipenak (Western Abenaki) – “great edible root”

Canada Lily (Lilium canadense)

Pitta kwenakwezid, kwinatta wakapwal wji mijwôgan ta wlinôgwatol peskwatawal.

A “very tall one”, with a really large root for food and beautiful flowers.

Wôbimizi – American Chestnut

Wôbimizi – “white tree” (Western Abenaki)

American Chestnut (Castanea dentata)

Wlipogwzoal bagônal – delicious nuts!

Elnu Abenaki Statement on Northampton, MA Roundabout Project

Full statement below, pdf here: Elnu Abenaki Northampton statement.

July 2, 2020 Concerning the dialogue about the proposed highway project at the intersection of Hatfield St. and Rts. 5 & 10 at Northampton, MA: Elnu Abenaki, a Vermont State-recognized Tribe, offers the following comments with regard to the ongoing situation and the parties involved.

 Kwai mziwi – greetings everyone,

This statement is on behalf of Elnu Abenaki, representing our understandings and council, grounded in the perspective of a Native community that has ancestral ties through both kinship and relationship with Ndakinna, our homelands.

• Abenaki have a direct, ancient association with the mid-Kwenitekw/Connectict River valley, by proximity and through diplomacy and kinship. As a result of the process of colonization, it is well-known that the dispossession of Indigenous people that traditionally call today’s Northampton and Hatfield home resulted in many joining the Abenaki at Schaghticoke, Missisquoi, Odanak, and elsewhere. Their descendants are among us today.
• Similarly, Abenaki have longstanding relationships with Nipmuc – for the identical reasons, as neighbors, allies, and kin – and who are subjected in like manner to the destruction of colonization. We stand with Nipmuc and their own previous sovereign statements.
• We have been following the progress of this project for over a year. To the best of our knowledge, the NHPA Section 106 process has followed protocol, and cultural resources have been surveyed, documented, and impacts addressed according to requirements.
• The laws being what they are, we acknowledge and appreciate that at least one Federally-recognized Tribe has actively participated as cultural monitor, in the person of Mark Andrews of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah). Meaningful inclusion of Native voices with regard to Indigenous cultural concerns is paramount and should be foregrounded and expanded
• We concur that any ancestral materials should return, or remain, in the Earth, our Mother, who is the holder and provider of everything.
• We are grateful for the consideration and care of others that have stepped forward from the several Native communities to intervene and clarify this confusing situation, and for the support and interest of allies.
• We maintain that, going forward, the best means of finding balance and peace, and minimizing these situations – recognizing that the inevitability of change is embraced through responsibility and relationship – is to prioritize inclusion and awareness. We aspire toward a better way of being here together and that includes recognizing where change is needed.

Wliwni – thank you,

Sôgmô Roger Longtoe Sheehan, Chief Elnu Abenaki

Jim Taylor, Councilman Elnu Abenaki

Rich Holschuh, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer Elnu Abenaki

On This Day, May 30, 1723: Dummer’s Interest

Brief background, adapted from Wikipedia: William Dummer (16777-1761) was lieutenant governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay for fourteen years (1716–1730), including a period from 1723 to 1728 when he acted as governor. He is remembered for his role in leading the colony during what is sometimes called Dummer’s War, which was fought between the British colonies of northeastern North America and a coalition of native tribes in what is now New Hampshire, Maine, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. Dummer was born into a wealthy Massachusetts merchant family, traveling to England as a young man to participate in the business. Upon his return to Massachusetts in 1712 he entered provincial politics, gaining a royal commission as lieutenant governor through the efforts of his brother Jeremiah. He served during the turbulent tenure of Governor Samuel Shute, in which Shute quarreled with the assembly over many matters. Shute left the province quite abruptly at the end of 1722, while it was in the middle of a war with the natives of northern New England.

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The following date is brought to our attention through the efforts of Brian Chenevert, Nulhegan Abenaki citizen, who has compiled a timeline of events significant during the colonization of Ndakinna by European invaders.

May 30, 1723

Massachusetts commissioners meet with Albany commissioners and representatives from the Five Nations (Haudenosaunee) and outline a proposal from Governor Dummer for the terms in which Massachusetts wanted the Five Nations to join it in fighting the Abenaki. The terms were: For the further Encouragement of your Warlike people Massachusetts will pay 100 pounds for the scalp of every male enemy Indian of twelve years or older, and 50 pounds for the scalps of all others killed “in fight.” Massachusetts will pay 50 pounds for each male prisoner. The Five Nations may keep female prisoners and children under twelve, as well as any plunder taken. The Massachusetts government will supply the Five Nations with any needed provisions or ammunition, but the value will be deducted from the money paid for scalps.

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Commentary by Sokoki Sojourn:

• William Dummer’s name, of course, was affixed to Fort Dummer (Wantastegok/Brattleboro) – built in the winter of 1724 by order of the Governor and the Assembly immediately after this recruitment attempt. The Vermont town immediately upriver and north is named Dummerston, also in attribution to this historical figure and his outsized influence.
• As with most politicians of the colonial period, not unlike those of today, politics and money (power) went hand in hand. William Dummer came from a wealthy family and made his own substantial fortune, in great part through land speculation – land being the transactional weapon of settler colonization. As a publicity move, he forewent his salary as Lieutenant Governor (also reminiscent of a certain current politician) while he accumulated more significant profits elsewhere.
• Gov. Dummer had direct personal interests in protecting the Connecticut River frontier above Northfield, at what became the VT/NH/MA tri-state border. He was one of the joint purchasers of the 48,000-acre-portion of the Equivalent Lands on the west bank of the mid-Kwenitekw, Sokoki Abenaki homelands.
• One of his fellow “investors” was William Brattle, Sr., who – with his son William Brattle, Jr. – similarly lent his name to a town that was chartered later by NH. Gov. Benning Wentworth. Another member of this land speculation pact and a highly  influential politician was Anthony Stoddard, Esq., whose cousin Col. John Stoddard of Northampton was the actual designer of Fort Dummer. John, himself, was an investor in some of the “Equivalent Lands.” As with many people, most of these parties solidified their business and social relationships through marriage as well.
• The Abenaki resistance which Dummer and his colleagues attempted to obstruct and suppress was a direct response to the continued encroachment of British settlers on Wabanaki territories, both in the Connecticut River valley and (what became) the Maine coast, then part of Massachusetts Bay Province. Coastal and inland Abenaki groups, typically allied with Britain’s empire-building-counterpart  France to the north, sought to keep the British contained.
• William Dummer – along with William Brattle and many other politicians/officers/investors and their extended heirs – had significant personal financial interests in the Eastern Abenaki homelands also.
• This series of militant actions was known as Dummer’s War, along with other, more localized theater referents. In the valley of Kwenitekw, it is often known as Greylock’s (or Gray Lock’s) War, in memory of the Western Abenaki war leader Wawanolet (or Wawanolewat) who led many raids and war parties from the north. While most other Abenaki bands to the east and north made peace agreements of a sort with Massachusetts after awhile. Wawanolewat never surrendered and died an old man among his people, around 1750.
• The clear conclusion to be drawn from these circumstances is that William Dummer (and his cronies, in the clearest sense of the word) was using public resources, influence, relationships, and funds to protect and enhance their personal interests. This included blood money for men, women, and children. One hundred Pounds was worth a fortune, over $26,000 in 1723. Not a lot has changed. The patterns of much-less-than-admirable human behavior that make up most of today’s headlines are stories that continue to play out here as well, with lasting effect.